Micah Program

St. Viator Parish School is committed to providing an excellent Catholic education for all its students, including those with special needs.

The primary purpose of the Micah program is to assist students, each with unique learning styles and varying exceptionalities, to grow into the fullness of life in Jesus, to be members of the community of beliefs, and to teach the redeeming message of God's love.

To do this, St. Viator has committed itself to the following goals:

To teach all students by acknowledging and responding to the learning styles and needs of each individual

To proactively guide all students so they may reach their full potential

To serve as Christ-like models in spreading the love for each student as a unique gift from God

To create the most appropriate activities which will allow all students to have success within their learning environment

To provide for on-going evaluation of each student's progress, thereby enabling each student to have success and challenge in learning

The Micah project provides a nurturing environment and the educational resources that will allow each student to realize their potential academically, socially, emotionally and spiritually. Students spend most of their day in class learning with peers and a small portion is spent in intensive, individualized instruction outside of the classroom.

Study Skills for Everyone

Everyone can benefit from the following study skills taken from Today's Catholic Teacher (2015) and written by Dr. Pat McCormack.

Use as many senses as possible; vision, hearing, smell, taste and touch for better memory recollection

Create a game of concentration using flash cards; go fish with a twist

Concentrate on more difficult tasks when your energy is high, and complete easier tasks after that peak time

Divide hard assignments into pieces and provide a break between pieces

If there is no homework on a given night use the time to review math facts or act out a scene from a book

Plan for book reports and/or large assignments by using a calendar. With different colored pens mark due dates for:

Research and note taking

Drafting the report/assignment

Editing and proofreading

Final version

The vast majority of people need to work on their study skills, and like any other task they can be improved with practice.

Why Accommodate and Modify?

Accommodations and/or modifications can lead to student success and improvement in motivation, self-esteem and behavior.

Students cannot be forced to learn (and achieve) way above their own ability level

Learning is being defined differently than it has in the past - the new generation of learners are more hands-on and utilize technology much more in an academic setting.

Many students included in the general classroom have different learning styles and needs.

It is often the only way some students will benefit from general classroom instruction.

It is a Catholic moral issue.

Take a Break from Class & Play TeacherSometimes the best way to know if a student understands a concept is to ask them to "teach" you how to do it - or show you how it works. Without the stress of a sit down test the answers can be a better reflection of what the student truly understands. If the student is old enough, have them create a test of their own based on a book or science project; most students that I have worked with love playing teacher and showing me how to do something. That also helps struggling students gain confidence while making the task fun. Depending on their age have them create a rubric to be used when they "grade" the tests - most students know how to use a rubric by the 5th grade.